Living Lab Action & Sustainability Plans
Τι είναι
Two simple planning templates that turn a group's ideas into action that lasts. The Action Plan sets out what you will do, who does it, and by when. The Sustainability Plan sets out what continues after the initial push, who owns it, and how you will know it is working.
Together they move a team from good intentions to owned, trackable commitments — the difference between a lively workshop and real change on the ground.
Πότε να τη χρησιμοποιήσετε
- You have ideas or momentum and need to turn them into concrete, owned actions.
- You want at least one thing to survive after the initial project or funding ends.
- You need a shared, simple document your team and partners can keep coming back to.
Πώς να την εφαρμόσετε
Two connected plans: first the Action Plan (what you will do now), then the Sustainability Plan (what keeps going).
- Start
Frame it
Agree the focus, 2–3 measurable objectives, and who the plan is for.
Παράγετε- A clear focus statement
- 2–3 measurable objectives
- Named target groups
- Build
Plan the action
List activities with an owner, a timeframe and the resources each needs; set the expected outcomes and the ethics.
Παράγετε- Activities with owners & timeframes
- Expected outcomes
- Ethics & consent addressed
- Sustain
Plan for continuity
Decide which solutions continue, who sustains them, how you keep partners engaged, and what institutional support you need.
Παράγετε- Solutions that continue, with owners
- Ongoing stakeholder engagement
- Institutional support
- Review
Track it
Name the main risks and 2–3 simple success indicators you can actually measure.
Παράγετε- Key risks & responses
- 2–3 success indicators
Use these plans once a Living Lab has generated ideas — usually after exploring and co-creating. They anchor everything that follows.
- Living Labs Guidelines — to set up the lab these plans steer
- World Café — to surface the ideas worth planning
- Social Innovation Hackathon — to prototype the solutions you commit to
Action & Sustainability Canvas
Use this canvas to turn ideas into an action plan, and to decide what keeps going afterwards. Print it at A3, or fill it in together.
Focus
What challenge does this work address?
Objectives
Your 2–3 clear, measurable objectives.
Target groups
Who takes part in, or benefits from, the work?
Activities
Each activity — with its owner, timeframe and the resources it needs.
Expected outcomes
What will change as a result?
Ethics
Consent, inclusion, data protection and power balance.
Solutions to continue
What continues after the project — and who owns it?
Stakeholders beyond the project
How you keep partners and allies engaged over time.
Institutional support
Recognition, funding, staff time or space secured.
Risks & responses
Main risks (time, space, budget…) and how you will handle them.
Success indicators
2–3 simple indicators, and how you will measure each one.
Πώς να συντονίσετε μια συνεδρία
A guide to running a planning session that fills the Action & Sustainability Canvas and turns it into two short, owned plans.
1 Προετοιμασία
- Invite your core team plus one or two partners who will own parts of the plan (about 4–10 people).
- Set aside two hours, and bring your earlier notes, ideas and any diagnosis to hand.
- Print the canvas at A3, or open it on a shared board.
- Decide who facilitates and who will write up the final plans afterwards.
2 Διεξαγωγή
- 10 minRecap — where the group is, and which ideas you are planning from.
- 20 minFocus, objectives & target groups — agree the top of the canvas together.
- 30 minActivities — for each one, name an owner, a timeframe and what it needs.
- 20 minOutcomes & ethics — what will change, and how you protect participants.
- 25 minContinuity — which solutions last, who sustains them, and what institutional support you need.
- 15 minRisks & indicators — the main risks, and 2–3 measurable signs of success.
- 10 minWrap-up — confirm owners and set a date to review progress.
3 Παρακολούθηση
- Write the canvas up as a short Action Plan and a short Sustainability Plan.
- Share both with everyone named in them, and confirm each owner agrees.
- Put the review date and the indicators somewhere the team will see them.
- Revisit the plans as the work evolves — treat them as living documents.
4 Διαδικτυακά
- Fill the canvas live on a shared board so owners can see their own commitments.
- Use a spreadsheet for activities and indicators, so they are easy to track later.
- Keep the session to about 90 minutes online, with a short break.
- Prefer privacy-respecting, GDPR-compliant tools, and give everyone edit access.
Παράδειγμα υλοποίησης από το έργο Labs4Change
In the context of TUDO, the Action Plan template was used to define three core objectives and structure a concrete set of activities around them. The first focused on engaging with the university's existing offers, ensuring that available opportunities, resources and services were actively used and built upon. The second aimed to connect and communicate the different actions taking place across the university, fostering greater visibility and coordination among students and staff. The third sought to transfer the work carried out in the Living Lab to the wider academic community. Using the Sustainability Plan, the team identified one to two actions that could be sustained over time and created synergies with other ongoing activities, ensuring the Living Lab's work would keep its relevance and impact beyond the project itself.
Success is measured through the concrete outcomes that the templates help generate. For the Action Plan, it is considered effective if the defined actions were actually implemented, as the template enabled users to plan a clear route of action with specific, tangible steps. For the Sustainability Plan, success is assessed through predefined indicators established during the planning process — if those indicators are achieved, the plan is considered successful. The creation of a shared vision for sustaining actions in the future is also very helpful.
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Πόροι και αναφορές
- Reference CHESS Action Manual — Change Hubs for Ecosystemic Social Solutions (2025) A practical manual for planning social innovation.
- Paper Eckhardt et al. (2021), Ecosystems of Co-Creation On sustaining co-creation beyond a single project.